Queen Creek Unified District (4245)

Public school district · Maricopa County · Arizona · NCES district ID 0406810

Queen Creek Unified District (4245) spent $9,137 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23, below the middle: 79% of the other Arizona districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 spent more (median $10,493). Its 15 schools enrolled 15,065 students in 2024-25; 51.5% of its revenue came from the state. Census Bureau figures for 2023-24 put it at $9,135 per student, up 4.6% on the year before (U.S. $17,619 that year). Its four-year graduation rate for the class of 2023 was 95% (Arizona: 77.8%).

NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 · Census Bureau school finances 2023-24 · NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 · method

Spending per student among Arizona districts of similar size

Current spending per student excludes construction and debt. The 9 districts closest to Queen Creek Unified District (4245) in enrollment (12,664 to 14,541 students) and Queen Creek Unified District (4245) itself.

Current spending per student, Arizona districts closest in size to Queen Creek Unified District (4245), FY23Cartwright School District #83 $11,949; Tempe Union High $11,252; Marana Unified School District 6 $10,680; Tolleson Union High $10,581; Kyrene Elementary $10,500; Sunnyside Unified $10,153; Vail $10,071; Higley Unified School District 60 $9,611; Queen Creek Unified District (4245) $9,137; American Leadership Academy $8,818; State median, 1,000+ students $10,493.6k8k10k12k14kCartwright School District #83$11,949Tempe Union High$11,252Marana Unified School District…$10,680Tolleson Union High$10,581Kyrene Elementary$10,500Sunnyside Unified$10,153Vail$10,071Higley Unified School District…$9,611Queen Creek Unified District (…$9,137American Leadership Academy$8,818State median, 1,000+ students $10,493
Current spending per student, Arizona districts closest in size to Queen Creek Unified District (4245), FY23Cartwright School District #83 $11,949; Tempe Union High $11,252; Marana Unified School District 6 $10,680; Tolleson Union High $10,581; Kyrene Elementary $10,500; Sunnyside Unified $10,153; Vail $10,071; Higley Unified School District 60 $9,611; Queen Creek Unified District (4245) $9,137; American Leadership Academy $8,818; State median, 1,000+ students $10,493.6k8k10k12k14kCartwright School District #83$11,949Tempe Union High$11,252Marana Unified School District 6$10,680Tolleson Union High$10,581Kyrene Elementary$10,500Sunnyside Unified$10,153Vail$10,071Higley Unified School District 60$9,611Queen Creek Unified District (4245)$9,137American Leadership Academy$8,818State median, 1,000+ students $10,493
Current spending per student, Arizona districts closest in size to Queen Creek Unified District (4245), FY23Cartwright School District #83 $11,949; Tempe Union High $11,252; Marana Unified School District 6 $10,680; Tolleson Union High $10,581; Kyrene Elementary $10,500; Sunnyside Unified $10,153; Vail $10,071; Higley Unified School District 60 $9,611; Queen Creek Unified District (4245) $9,137; American Leadership Academy $8,818; State median, 1,000+ students $10,493.6k10k14kCartwright School District #83$11,949Tempe Union High$11,252Marana Unified School District 6$10,680Tolleson Union High$10,581Kyrene Elementary$10,500Sunnyside Unified$10,153Vail$10,071Higley Unified School District 60$9,611Queen Creek Unified District (4245)$9,137American Leadership Academy$8,818State median, 1,000+ students $10,493
Current spending per student, Arizona districts closest in size to Queen Creek Unified District (4245), FY23Cartwright School District #83 $11,949; Tempe Union High $11,252; Marana Unified School District 6 $10,680; Tolleson Union High $10,581; Kyrene Elementary $10,500; Sunnyside Unified $10,153; Vail $10,071; Higley Unified School District 60 $9,611; Queen Creek Unified District (4245) $9,137; American Leadership Academy $8,818; State median, 1,000+ students $10,493.6k10k14kCartwright School District #83$11,949Tempe Union High$11,252Marana Unified School District 6$10,680Tolleson Union High$10,581Kyrene Elementary$10,500Sunnyside Unified$10,153Vail$10,071Higley Unified School District 60$9,611Queen Creek Unified District (4245)$9,137American Leadership Academy$8,818State median, 1,000+ students $10,493

Where the money came from

$175,797,000 in revenue: 51.5% state, 39.1% local and 9.4% federal. Total spending including $32,254,000 of capital outlay was $172,368,000, or $13,053 per student; the figure above leaves capital out.

Queen Creek Unified District (4245) revenue by source, fiscal year 2022-23State $90,550,000; Local $68,723,000; Federal $16,524,000; total $175,797,000.
  • State$90,550,000 52%
  • Local$68,723,000 39%
  • Federal$16,524,000 9%

Source: NCES F-33 school district finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23: current expenditures for elementary and secondary education divided by fall membership; the state median covers 157 districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022. Revenue by source (TOTALREV, TFEDREV, TSTREV, TLOCREV).

Enrollment rose from 2022-23 to 2024-25

13,818 students in 2022-23, 14,503 students in 2023-24, 15,065 students in 2024-25, counted across the schools that reported each year.

Queen Creek Unified District (4245) enrollment by school year2022-23: 13,818, 2023-24: 14,503, 2024-25: 15,06505k10k15k20k2022-2313,8182023-2414,5032024-2515,065
Queen Creek Unified District (4245) enrollment by school year2022-23: 13,818, 2023-24: 14,503, 2024-25: 15,06505k10k15k20k2022-2313,8182023-2414,5032024-2515,065
Queen Creek Unified District (4245) enrollment by school year2022-23: 13,818, 2023-24: 14,503, 2024-25: 15,06505k10k15k20k2022-2313,8182023-2414,5032024-2515,065
Queen Creek Unified District (4245) enrollment by school year2022-23: 13,818, 2023-24: 14,503, 2024-25: 15,06505k10k15k20k2022-2313,8182023-2414,5032024-2515,065

Teachers and students per teacher

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Per teacher
2022-2313,818673.420.5
2023-2414,503724.620.0
2024-2515,065735.320.5

Source: NCES Common Core of Data membership and staff files, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25; sums over the schools reporting each year.

$42,590,000 in teacher salaries in fiscal year 2022-23, $3,225 per student

Queen Creek Unified District (4245) booked $42,590,000 of teacher salaries in its 2022-23 finance report and counted 673 full-time teachers in its Common Core of Data district staff file for 2022-23 (the school files behind the staffing figures on this page count teachers separately, so the two can differ), or $63,250 of salary spending per teacher. That is more than 54 in 100 Arizona districts with a figure (state median $62,248, 172 districts). It is spending, not what a teacher is paid: the salary lines and the teacher count come from different files, so the result can differ widely from the average salary the district publishes (its salary schedule gives pay); benefits are left out, and states book salaries differently, so compare districts within one state. For pay, the National Education Association put the average Arizona teacher salary at $54,580 in 2021-22 (NCES Digest table 211.60).

ProgramTeacher salariesShare
Regular programs$35,894,00084.3%
Special education$4,837,00011.4%
Vocational$1,331,0003.1%
Other programs$528,0001.2%

Teacher salaries per student, fiscal years 2018-19 to 2022-23

The district's teacher salary bill divided by its fall enrollment each year: $2,898 in 2018-19, $2,874 in 2019-20, $3,021 in 2020-21, $3,069 in 2021-22, $3,225 in 2022-23.

Queen Creek Unified District (4245) teacher salaries per student by fiscal year2018-19: $2,898, 2019-20: $2,874, 2020-21: $3,021, 2021-22: $3,069, 2022-23: $3,22501k2k3k4k2018-19$2,8982019-20$2,8742020-21$3,0212021-22$3,0692022-23$3,225
Queen Creek Unified District (4245) teacher salaries per student by fiscal year2018-19: $2,898, 2019-20: $2,874, 2020-21: $3,021, 2021-22: $3,069, 2022-23: $3,22501k2k3k4k2018-19$2,8982019-20$2,8742020-21$3,0212021-22$3,0692022-23$3,225
Queen Creek Unified District (4245) teacher salaries per student by fiscal year2018-19: $2,898, 2019-20: $2,874, 2020-21: $3,021, 2021-22: $3,069, 2022-23: $3,22501k2k3k4k2018-19$2,8982019-20$2,8742020-21$3,0212021-22$3,0692022-23$3,225
Queen Creek Unified District (4245) teacher salaries per student by fiscal year2018-19: $2,898, 2019-20: $2,874, 2020-21: $3,021, 2021-22: $3,069, 2022-23: $3,22501k2k3k4k2018-19$2,8982019-20$2,8742020-21$3,0212021-22$3,0692022-23$3,225

Source: NCES F-33 school district finance survey, fiscal years 2019 to 2023: teacher salaries in regular, special, vocational and other programs (Z35 to Z38) and fall membership (V33); NCES Common Core of Data LEA staff file 2022-23, teachers (full-time equivalent).

State test results, 2021-22

In 2021-22, the students tested in Queen Creek Unified District (4245) scored proficient or above: 55% in reading and 53% in math, against 40.4% in reading and 34.8% in math across Arizona. Each state writes its own test and sets its own proficiency bar, so compare these within Arizona, not across states.

Students proficient or above, 2021-22
SubjectThis districtArizonaStudents tested
Reading and language arts55%40.4%6,297
Math53%34.8%6,314

Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results 2021-22, all students, from ED Data Express (the Data Rescue Project archive; ED has no 2022-23 result for this district): ED shows district results as ranges (for example 20-24%) to protect small groups.

Graduation rate, class of 2023

95% of the 801 students in Queen Creek Unified District (4245)'s class of 2023 graduated within four years, against 77.8% across Arizona. The four-year rate follows the students who started ninth grade in fall 2019, adjusted for those who moved in or out, and counts those who earned a regular diploma by 2023. Every state computes it the same way under federal law, though each sets its own diploma requirements.

Four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rate, class of 2023
This districtArizona
Four-year graduation rate95%77.8%
Students in the class80193,470

Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates 2022-23, all students, from ED Data Express: ED shows district rates as ranges (for example 90-94%) and leaves out small classes.

9 elementary schools, 8,148 students

SchoolStudentsPer teacherFree lunchTitle I, 2021‑22
Silver Valley Elementary1,38421.56.0%Not Title I
Faith Mather Sossaman Elementary School1,15320.99.0%Targeted program
Schnepf Elementary School1,04420.813.9%Not Title I
Gateway Polytechnic Academy1,00319.17.9%Not Title I
Katherine Mecham Barney Elementary90822.43.0%Not Title I
Queen Creek Elementary School71116.713.9%Targeted program
Desert Mountain Elementary68217.313.0%Not Title I
Frances Brandon-Pickett Elementary64217.813.0%Targeted program
Jack Barnes Elementary School62117.09.9%Not Title I

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.

2 middle schools, 786 students

SchoolStudentsPer teacherFree lunchTitle I, 2021‑22
Queen Creek Junior High School65719.710.8%Eligible, no program
Newell Barney Junior High1299.915.8%Eligible, no program

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.

3 high schools, 5,866 students

SchoolStudentsPer teacherFree lunchTitle I, 2021‑22
Crismon High School2,00922.99.9%Not reported
Queen Creek High School1,96821.910.0%Eligible, no program
Eastmark High School1,88921.08.0%Not Title I

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.

1 other school, 265 students

SchoolStudentsPer teacherFree lunchTitle I, 2021‑22
Queen Creek Virtual Academy26566.3not reportedNot Title I

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.

Contact Queen Creek Unified District (4245)

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, local education agency directory 2024-25. Enrollment, boundaries and school assignment are the district's to confirm.

What to look at next about Queen Creek Unified District (4245)

  1. Arizona districts by spending per studentQueen Creek Unified District (4245) ranks 124 of 157 Arizona districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 on current spending per student in fiscal year 2022-23 ($9,137).#124 of 157
  2. Every school district in ArizonaQueen Creek Unified District (4245) is the number 17 by size of 661 Arizona districts, with 13,818 students in fall 2022 (F-33).#17 of 661
  3. Cartwright School District #83The next larger Arizona district: 14,338 students in fall 2022, $11,949 per student in fiscal year 2022-23.$11,949
  4. Tolleson Union High School DistrictThe next smaller Arizona district: 13,741 students in fall 2022, $10,581 per student in fiscal year 2022-23.$10,581
  5. Compare Queen Creek Unified District (4245) with Cartwright School District #83Enrollment, spending, revenue sources and schools, side by side.
  6. Crismon High School, its largest high school2,009 students in 2024-25, 22.9 per teacher.2,009
  7. Teacher salary spending across ArizonaQueen Creek Unified District (4245) spent $63,250 in salaries per full-time teacher in fiscal year 2022-23 (state median $62,248); spending, not a salary.$63,250
  8. Find the school district for an addressA home's district decides which public schools it can enroll in.

Source: NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 (spending per student and fall 2022 membership; ranks among the state's districts that reported them); NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (schools).

Questions about Queen Creek Unified District (4245)

  1. How many schools and students are in Queen Creek Unified District (4245)?
    15 schools were open in 2024-25 (9 elementary, 2 middle, 3 high, 1 other), enrolling 15,065 students, according to the NCES Common Core of Data.
  2. How much does Queen Creek Unified District (4245) spend per student?
    $9,137 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23 (NCES F-33), which leaves out construction and debt; the Arizona median for districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 is $10,493 and the U.S. figure is $16,260. Census Bureau figures for 2023-24 put it at $9,135 per student, up 4.6% on the year before (U.S. $17,619 that year).
  3. Where does Queen Creek Unified District (4245)'s money come from?
    $175,797,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2022-23: 51.5% state, 39.1% local and 9.4% federal (NCES F-33).
  4. How many children in Queen Creek Unified District (4245) live in poverty?
    The Census Bureau estimates that 607 of the 14,883 children aged 5 to 17 living within the district's boundaries in 2024, 4.1%, were in families in poverty (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). It is a model-based estimate for everyone living in the district, not a count of its students; the free-meal shares in the school tables are counts of enrolled students.
  5. How much does Queen Creek Unified District (4245) spend on teacher salaries?
    $42,590,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 (NCES F-33), or $3,225 per student. Divided by the 673 full-time teachers in the NCES Common Core of Data for 2022-23 that is $63,250 per teacher, more than 54 in 100 Arizona districts (state median $62,248). That is spending, not what a teacher is paid: the salary lines and the teacher count come from different files, and the result can differ widely from the average salary a district publishes. The district's salary schedule gives pay. For pay, the National Education Association put the average Arizona teacher salary at $54,580 in 2021-22 (NCES Digest table 211.60).
  6. How do students in Queen Creek Unified District (4245) do on state tests?
    In 2021-22, the students tested in Queen Creek Unified District (4245) scored proficient or above: 55% in reading and 53% in math, against 40.4% in reading and 34.8% in math across Arizona. Arizona's own test sets what proficient means, so results compare within the state, not across states. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22.
  7. What is the graduation rate in Queen Creek Unified District (4245)?
    95% of the 801 students in Queen Creek Unified District (4245)'s class of 2023 graduated within four years, against 77.8% across Arizona. The four-year rate follows the students who started ninth grade in fall 2019, adjusted for those who moved in or out. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates, 2022-23.
  8. What is Queen Creek Unified District (4245)'s NCES district ID?
    0406810. Each of its schools' 12-digit NCES IDs begins with these seven digits.

Reading these figures: how to choose a school district, what Title I means and what an absenteeism rate means. They are for information and are not a substitute for the school's or district's own records.

Sources

Every federal file behind this record
  • NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25: directory, membership, staff and lunch files. nces.ed.gov
  • NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22 school characteristics: Title I status. nces.ed.gov
  • Civil Rights Data Collection, 2021-22: AP courses, gifted programs, counselors, discipline. civilrightsdata.ed.gov
  • EDFacts, 2022-23: chronic absenteeism. ed.gov
  • EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates, 2022-23: the class of 2023 for the district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
  • EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22: reading and math proficiency for the district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
  • NCES Digest of Education Statistics, table 211.60 (2021-22): the state's average teacher salary, from the National Education Association. nces.ed.gov
  • U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024: children aged 5 to 17 and those in families in poverty, by school district. census.gov
  • U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, fiscal year 2023-24: per pupil current spending for 2023-24 and 2022-23. census.gov
  • NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, fiscal year 2022-23: district spending and revenue. nces.ed.gov
  • U.S. Census Bureau geocoder and TIGER school districts: the district boundary used by the district finder. census.gov

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances Per pupil current spending by school system · FY 2023-24

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey Revenue and expenditures by district · FY 2022-23

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School directory, membership, staff and lunch files · 2024-25

Compiled from official source data by .